Film about our relationship with God

OMG Oh My God! is about something that touches all our lives - religion. It is a film about our relationship with God, how instead of being Godloving, we have become God fearing fearing. How religion has become a business run by godmen (here aptly referred to as 'salesmen') who aren't in fact very spiritual at all. A note to atheists and agnostics - the film is not an endorsement of those views. It insists on the existence of God.
Kanji Lalji Mehta, played by Paresh Rawal, is an avowed atheist who runs an antiques shop. Kanji is a wily salesman. He weaves tall tales around his wares and sells 200-rupee idols for thousands. The faithful are always ready to pay. As Kanji puts it: "Shraddha ka kaam hai, jitna dalo, utna kum."
One day, an earthquake destroys Kanji's shop. The insurance company refuses to pay, saying it was an act of God. So Kanji, defiant, furious and abandoned by his family, goes to court and sues God.
The story is an adaptation of a very successful Gujarati play, which later became a hit in Hindi and Marathi too. The original template is an Australian film called The Man Who Sued God. Sadly, here, a terrific play makes for limp cinema.
Director Umesh Shukla, who has also directed the play, is bogged down by the burden of Bollywood. So we must have an item number with Sonakshi Sinha and Prabhu Deva. Shukla must also make room for the mega-stardom of Akshay Kumar, who is both producer and God.
Akshay plays God, which would have worked well if the film didn't have to build him up so much. He is introduced with an elaborate action sequence, featuring tacky special effects, in which he rescues Kanji from religious fanatics. This God comes to earth on a snazzy motorcycle and wears, among other things, a long purple jacket. His face is always bathed in a strange, diffused light. And there are scores of frames of him just smiling benevolently or looking wisely into the distance.

Paresh is wonderful as the stubborn, smart and eccentric Kanji. He gets a few fiery scenes in court, but the film sags because the other characters are so flimsy. Mithun Chakraborty, in a hideous wig, plays a weird, fey guru. Govind Namdeo is a godman who constantly eats fruits and shakes with anger almost every time he speaks. Eventually OMG Oh My God! dissipates into a lecture. The intentions are good, but the preaching is boring. Paresh Rawal, as usual, rises above the material. He is the force in this film.

Supreme Court slams Karnataka on Cauvery issue

Supreme Court, in strong and critical statement, slammed the Karnataka government for ignoring the Prime Minister's orders to release water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The two states have been locked in a dispute over sharing water from the Cauvery river that goes back more than a century. On Tuesday, the Cauvery River Authority, headed by the Prime Minister, asked  Karnataka  to release 9000 cusecs of water everyday to its neighbour till October 15. Karnataka refused and walked out of the meeting.
Taking strong exception to this and ordering Karnataka to release the water immediately, Supreme Court told Karnataka government, "Prime Minister is the highest authority... you don't want to comply with this order... we are sorry to say this." Tamil Nadu had approached the top court after Karnataka's refusal to release the water, even telling the court that a minister from Karnataka in the Union Cabinet was saying that the Bangalore shouldn't agree to release the water.

Karnataka, which is governed by the BJP, has accused the Centre of favouring Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu, which faces perennial water shortage, has said that it needs the water urgently to save its crops. But Karnataka has said that it is facing a drought and needs the water for itself. The 800 km long Cauvery river runs through Karnataka and flow into Tamil Nadu. The sharing of this river's water has been a matter of dispute and political posturing for several decades. Even now, rebel BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa has made this an issue as part of his campaign against his party's senior leadership. Across the border, the Tamil Nadu government run by Ms Jayalalithaa has been targetted for not being able to convince Karnataka to release the water. The origins of the dispute go back to two agreements, one of 1892 and the other in 1924, to share the Cauvery's water. After that, there have been a series of tribunals, agreements and court cases, none of which have been able to sort the issue out.

No power in storm-hit US states

Over a million homes and businesses in Louisiana, the home state of Indian-American governor Bobby Jindal, and neighbouring Mississippi were still without power as a weakened storm began a slow trek northward.
Nearly half of Louisiana with some 901,000 homes and businesses was without power late Thursday as Tropical Storm Isaac now downgraded to tropical depression as workers started creating a small breach in a dam on Louisiana-Mississippi border to save parts of the state from flooding.
In neighbouring Mississippi, utility companies are working to restore power to more than 150,000 customers in south and central parts of the state. President Barack Obama declared federal emergencies in Louisiana and Mississippi late Wednesday, allowing federal aid to be freed up for affected areas, media reports citing officials said.
Meanwhile, workers have started creating a small breach in a dam near McComb, Mississipi, in hopes of lessening pressure that could cause it to fail and flood homes along the Tangipahoa River in Louisiana, Jindal said.
The breach in the dam, which is located in Percy Quin State Park, would release enough water to lower the level of Lake Tangipahoa by eight feet, he was quoted as saying by Baton Rouge Advocate.
If the dam burst some 40,000 to 60,000 people living on either side of the river could see floodwaters as high as 17 feet - similar to floods in 1983 and 1990, said Jindal calling the situation in the Tangipahoa Parish area as "the biggest challenge" the state faced.

In LaPlace, Louisiana, about 28 miles north and west of New Orleans, the National Guard was evacuating 3,000 people trapped by flooding. Jindal said they were rescuing about 30 people an hour. As rescues of flood-trapped residents continued in Louisiana, more northern places such as Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois braced for the impact of Isaac. Airline, rail and automotive traffic was likely to remain snarled across several states through week's end, officials said.

Animals in action

Flower fence

Rajinikanth records a song for Kochadaiyaan

     Superstar Rajinikanth has sung a song after 20 years. The Endhiran star, who had earlier crooned in Mannan way back in 1992, has lent his voice for the number composed by Oscar Award winner AR Rahman.
It is said that Rajinikanth recorded the track on March 11. The song penned by poet-lyricist Vairamuthu tells about the theme of the film and has links with the superstar.s character in the multilingual project.
Sources say that not only Rajinikanth but AR Rahman was also excited to record the track. The song has come out well and it will be one of the highlights of Kochadaiyaan. However, the shooting of the movie will take off in London on March 21.
     Kochadaiyaan directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth also features Deepika Padukone, Jackie Shroff, Shobana, Aadhi, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Nassar, Sarath Kumar and others.

Why It Is Now Or Never For Yeddyurappa

The annual routine of budget presentation has become a scene of political intrigue and skulduggery in Karnataka. With two days to go for the state budget 2012-13 , a profit-and loss account and policy document of the government has become an occasion for the BJP faction to go for each other's jugular.

But why is former CM B S Yeddyurappa determined to unseat his successor , Sadananda Gowda, so that he and only he can present this year's budget ? The reasons are many. First and foremost, Yeddyurappa has presented six consecutive budgets since 2006. He was on the verge of creating two new records, till he was given the boot that is.
     With his last budget's size at Rs 85,000 crore, it was matter of time before the outlay would have crossed Rs 1 lakh crore. Yeddyurappa spoke several times about presenting a budget of that dream size this year. Yeddyurappa was also on the verge of equalling Siddaramaiah's record of presenting the maximum number of budgets. No wonder Yeddyurappa sees Gowda as an interloper, though he is his chosen man.
Budgets are as much about grandstanding as they are about handing out huge doles to buy support. A populist budget gives Gowda a perfect launchpad to emerge as a leader of independent reckoning. As finance minister , Gowda also holds the key to the state exchequer. Once Gowda appears to be in command, MLAs/MLCs will only queue up before him to get approval for even small projects. From here it is matter of time before Gowda can buy their support.
     Besides, this could be the last budget of the first-ever BJP government in the South as assembly elections to Karnataka is expected to be announced in February 2013. Yeddyurappa has earned the goodwill of mutts, religious institutions and castes by doling out goodies to them in his budgets. He may be worried that Gowda, too, may allocate more funds and gain some larger endorsement in the process. 

Beautiful photos of birds

Some beautiful photos

Building Home: Painted Stock bird carrying stick at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary near Mysore.

Women carrying firewood near Kolar.

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A view of Cubbon Park with flowers in Bangalore.

Gunung Kidul : Indonesian men try to catch offerings thrown into the sea by Hindu worshippers during the ritual of Melasti on a beach in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The ritual which is performed ahead of the Balinese Hindu's Day of Silence, is held to purify the universe from bad influences, bad deeds and bad thoughts.

 Boatmen rowing towards safety at the Dal Lake during a windstorm in Srinagar, India.

A colourful folk dance being presented by Rajasthani artistes at the elephant festival in Jaipur.